A time to walk and a time to wait

There are some places along the promenade where the waves almost always break over the railing at high tide, even if it isn't stormy. As I walk there often, I have learnt to gauge when it is safe to walk past so that I don't get sprayed with wet, salty sea spray. Those who are careless, get wet. One needs to watch how far away the next wave is, how fast it is travelling, and how big it is. Not all the waves break onto the promenade.

The Spirit can teach us how to make righteous judgements about people or situations to gauge their safety, whether physical or spiritual. Careless people don't learn how to judge, don't listen to the Spirit, rely on their own judgements, and get "sprayed with wet, salty sea water". As they make mistakes, they suffer in some way for making inaccurate judgements.

There is a time to walk and a time to wait so as not to be sprayed by the waves. There is a time to do all things, each in its appropriate time. A time to serve a mission, a time to marry, a time to have children, and so on. Doing things at the wrong time or in the wrong order can lead to heartache. I have learnt to walk just before the wave reaches the promenade, just as surfers learn the exact moment when to catch a wave, or it will be missed. There are opportunities we should take when presented, or we will lose out, eg the call to serve a mission.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries."

(Julius Caesar Act 4 Scene 3 Lines 218 - 221 by Shakespeare)

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; ... a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ... a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; ... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak... " (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-9)

Cold and unwelcome

Last winter I didn't go to the promenade for awhile. I didn't feel like going. I didn't feel like the 20 minute drive. I didn't feel like walking in the icy cold wind and being sprayed by the cold waves. At that time my grandson would have tantrums when I wanted to go home because he wanted to stay longer, and I didn't feel like dealing with them.

One day, the sun shone beautifully. It was a gorgeous day so I drove to Sea Point. When I arrived, it was so lovely. The sun shone and sparkled on the sea, there were no waves, and the wind had disappeared. What a wonderful day it was. I wondered why I had stayed away for so long, why I had been so lazy. I had missed it. I was happy to be back. It was so refreshing and I enjoyed being there.

Some people stay away from church through laziness or apathy. They don't feel like attending. It's too far to travel. It's hard to get transport. They may feel unwelcome (cold in the wintry wind), people may offend them (my grandson's tantrums). But when they get up the will to come back, it's wonderful, refreshing, uplifting. They enjoy it and are happy there, and wonder why they stayed away.

Water, water...

The sea is essential for the existence of myriads of plants and animals, all sorts of creatures. Water is also essential for our existence and to sustain human life. We can’t go for more than a few days without water, or we will die. When the sea is rough, I think of the hymn – “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds (or things in the world) Thy hands have made... then sings my soul, ...how great Thou art!” When the sea is calm and smooth, I find it restful, soothing, calming.

I am reminded of the waters of the atonement which are also essential for our life, our eternal life. The waters of baptism are essential for us to enter God's kingdom, as is the water of the sacrament when we renew our covenants which we have made with Him. Both cleanse us, heal us spiritually like physical water cleans and heals us physically. Euripides, the great Greek playwright who lived more than 400 years BC, wrote in one of his plays: “The sea washes away the stains & wounds of the world.”

There are many instances in the scriptures in which the Spirit is referred to as living water. Jesus said “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink… for out of his belly shall flow living water (but this He spake of the Spirit)” (John 7: 37 – 39). He also told the woman at the well that He could give her living water (John 4: 10). He spoke of Himself as the fountain of living water (Jeremiah 2:13).

Years ago I read an essay in which the writer told how, when we draw on the seasand, a wave can come and wipe the sand clean. If we build a sandcastle, a wave can not only knock it down, but smoothe the sand as if the castle had never been there. If we dig a hole in the sand, a wave can fill it with sand so that it is completely gone. She likened this to the waters of the atonement. As we sin, we damage our spirits, but the waters of the atonement, consisting of baptism and the sacrament, can wipe us clean as if those things had never happened. Maybe, somehow, Euripides knew this.

In the ancient Greek myth, Narcissus discovered himself in a pool of water. If you look at a reflection of yourself in water, the edges are softened. In the same way, the waters of the atonement can soften our rough, hard edges and our encrustations of bad habits can be washed away, like dirt is washed away in water. Just as our reflection in water flows with the movement of tides, currents, waves and ripples, so the cleansing of the waters of the atonement reinstates a level of innocence and impressionability, and we can flow with the Spirit, and be susceptible to the impressions we receive from Him. Just as water washes us clean, so the waters of the atonement cleanse and purify us so that the Spirit can be with us. Jesus said “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights of the Soul, pg 61 – 63)